


The lady in the library

by desdemona_1996_writes



Category: Rumbelle - Fandom, ouat
Genre: Angst and Romance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Caught in the Rain, Dark Past, Dress Up, F/M, Falling In Love, Library Romance, Loneliness, Love at First Sight, Meeting in a library, Mood broad, Old-Fashioned, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Stalking, Talking, Tea, book lovers, crown of flowers, desperate souls, haunting the library, lurker gold, old fashioned Belle, rumpled sheets, tragic past, two lonely souls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 11:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22969357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desdemona_1996_writes/pseuds/desdemona_1996_writes
Summary: Written for a monthly rumbellingFebruary:prompts see mood boardhttps://a-monthly-rumbelling.tumblr.com/post/190610265965/prompts-for-februaryTwo desperate souls meet,She was a mystery the woman who Frequented the Library. Brown hair beautiful blue eyes and white gloves.He was captivated by her from the moment he first saw her.Re-edited&finished!
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	The lady in the library

**Author's Note:**

> Finally, finished this!

{ he called her Donna reed } 

The girl in the library was wearing a peach dress with full skirt today.Donna reed he dub her because of her old fashioned attire and that prefect hair.today she was reading perfume not her normal reading material but then there was nothing really normal about this girl.she was young. pretty of course.beautiful actually.he first noticed her 3-weeks ago this Monday.he stumbled upon her in the poetry section she was wearing sheer white polka dot gloves.they caught his eye as her fingers lovingly danced across the book spins.she turned her head sensing his stare her blue eyes taking his breath away.he barely managed a nod before running away. back into his little dark corner of the library.

He finds her again in the Classic literature section.this time she's reading Henry James.he noted her white cardigan sweater has little cherries stitched in the corner shoulder.

He spies her again in the Travel section. and this time when her dazzling blue eyes catch his eye she nods and smiles politely at him. he returns the nod and runs away like the coward he is.anyway he has other things to do besides gawk at the pretty young woman in the library.he has his work to finish.it's all he has left.

Day after day he haunts the library like a ghost.by all outward appearances he's working.doing research.but in truth he has no where else to go.

On his dark days he finds himself seeking her out. pining for just a glimpse of her but she's never there when he really wants her there. Miss Donna reed only pays the library a visit once or twice a week.she's nothing like him a lost soul.she has a life albeit mysterious one.

She was a mystery to him, a beautiful mystery a puzzle for his mind to piece together.he used to love puzzles in another time.in another life he might have been able to speak to her.ask her real name but he's not that kind of man.he's not a man at all.he's just the shadow of one.an empty shell that's been hollowed out. 

He catches glimpses of her when he least expects it.today she was back in the Classic literature section.spending some time with F Scott Fitzgerald.  
She has a crown of flowers on her head. pink roses he wonders why? It's such a childish thing to be wearing and yet it matches perfectly with her house wife outfit.he admires her innocence her bold and beautiful attitude towards the world around her.he was in awe of her of the life ahead of her.love happiness. great sex.the world is at her feet and she doesn't even realize it.

Donna reed with her full monotone color skirts and perfect hair wondered around the library one afternoon.her white gloved fingers moving gently across the bookracks as she seemingly aimlessly wonders through the bookracks. searching for something to strike her fancy while he silently followed.staking behind the bookracks watching as she bites on her bottom lip in thought.He loves it when she does that, oh how that innocent gesture does such things to him.he finds himself daydreaming about sucking her pretty pink lips Between his own.Tasing her sweetness on his tongue. His tongue doing other things to her. Dirty things his mind wondering right into a ditch. 

{ the guy with sad brown eyes } 

She noticed him that day in the library while she was perusing the bookracks. looking for something different.. something out of the ordinary when she saw him.and she honestly wondered how she could not have noticed him before. the odd man with the sad brown eyes who alway seems to be watching her.she should be wary of him but she’s surprised to find that she’s not.he is such an odd little man?she’s actually intrigued by him.he’s always there she finds.haunting the library like a ghost.but every time she caught his dark stare he'd quickly turn Skidding away. hiding himself away deep in the stacks. with her curiosity getting the better of her as she always had a curious nature.she asked the librarian about the short man with long hair and dark brown eyes.the librarian unsurprising knew very little about the odd man only that he never seems to leave the library. he's there every morning waiting for her to open the library and the last one to leave at night. 

how very odd? she thought intrigued by this quiet shy lurker.and resolved to discover the mystery behind those brown eyes.

{ two lost souls meet in a library } 

The library is closed, he stared dumbfounded at the closed sign hanging on the locked library doors.and they are actually locked! he's tried to open them. why the hell is the damn doors locked! he fruitlessly pounded on the door in outrage at being denied entry into his sanctuary. his irritation growing at the audacity.

“That's odd? he heard her say.

He turned to find her standing there. Donna reed.

He opened his mouth to spake but no words came out.he stood there gaping at her like a complete fool.

“Is there a note? She asked slowly walking closer.

He closed his gaping mouth shut and turned to look back at the closed sign instantly forgetting what it was he supposed to be looking for? 

“Well this is odd.” she said suddenly standing behind him peering over his shoulder into the darken library.

“Well now what? she asked crossing her arms and looking at him with her dazzling blue eyes.Stupefying him.

“Wha..what are you asking me? he asked wary of her meaning.

She tilted her head fixing him with those curious blue eyes.

“Your not very good at this, are you? she asked with a coy smile. 

“What? he asked.

“Talking to people.” she said with a shrug. 

“Didn't your mother ever teach you about talking to strangers.” his brain skittished to a halt as the words came tumbling out of mouth without permission.

“Well your not exactly a stranger.” she said with a warm smile.

“I'm not? he asked with furrowed brow.

“No we've met before.” she said simply.

“We have? He asked confused by her meaning.

“Yes, in the library remember? she replied with that same warm smile on her face. 

“Ah yes, but I never got your name.” he said with a cockiness he didn’t have. 

She smiled at that. “it's Belle French.” 

“Belle, he repeated liking the way it felt on his tongue. it suits you.”

“And yours? she asked. 

He stared into her captivating blue eyes and subconsciously licked his lips when they were rudely interrupted by another library patron. looking over them at the posted closed Sign and with a shrug he turned and walked away.

They shared a look as they heard Thunder rumble above them.

“I guess that’s our cue.” She said bitting on her bottom lip in that sexy little way that drove him crazy.

“I suppose..he began when it suddenly started to pure down rain.

Belle shrieked! as her pretty little sweetheart dress became soaked,

“Where’s you’re car parked? he asked attempting to be chivalrous wishing he had a jacket to offer her. 

She shook her head. “I rode my Bicycle here.” she replied.

“of course you did, he said sounding slightly putout. I live walking distance from here. just across the street actually.” 

She nodded her head in silent agreement and together they made a run for it.dashing cross the street in the pure down rain and into the safety of his small apartment.

out of breath they both stood in the middle of his part living room part bedroom soaking wet and dripping on the carpet. he noticed her shivering.

“Wait right here, I’ll get you a towel.” he said awkwardly and retreated into his tiny bathroom grabbing her a bath towel. when he Reemerged he caught her staring at his unmade bed.his twisted rumpled bedsheets accusing him of impropriety. 

“Here.” he said unceremoniously handing her the towel.

“Thanks.” she said with a bashful look.

“Your dripping.” she added.

“What? He asked dumbfounded.

“aren’t you going to change?

He looked down at himself suddenly awere that his clothes were soaked through. “yes, yes of course.” he hesitantly met her gaze uncertain how to go about it with her essentially standing in his bedroom.

“Would you, Would like like some tea? He asked staring down at the sorry state of his carpet.

“Yes I would love some.” she said enthusiastically.

“I only have Earl gray, I’m afraid.” he said apologetically.

“That’s perfect.” she said and he could practically hear That smile in her Voice.

With his head down not even daring to glance in her Direction he set about making the tea. 

“Your place is cozy, have you lived here long? She asked following him into the small space that is his kitchen.

“Not very.” he hedged.not really answering her question.

He felt her stare as he filled a pot with water and set it on the stove to boil.

“You don’t have a tea kettle? She asked incredulous.

“No.” he simply replied.

She look at the pot on the stove as if it personally offended her,

“I get it now.” she said.

“What? he asked looking at her in utter confusion. everything about Donna Reed..Belle, was a Enigma to him.

“Why your always in the library, I would be too. I mean if I lived so close by. I’d practically live there! she said with a big smile on her face.

“You would? 

She nodded her head. “I love books, if I could I would spend every waking moment reading.but life.” she shrugged her shoulders.

“But your only there twice a week? He asked and She looked up at him with a knowing smirk and he’d blatantly realized what he’d unknowingly admitted.

“Life, you should see my apartment. the whole place is littered with books I can hardly ever find anything.my friends use to say that I like books more then I do people.” she said with a sadness in her normally cheery tone.

“You shouldn’t dismiss the Company of people so easily, books are great Company but loneness..he looked into her blue eyes and hesitated.having someone to talk to is a valuable asset in this unfriendly World.” He managed to say.

She tilted her head as if seeing him for the first time. “is that why your always there, in the library.because your lonely? she asked.

“Of course not.” he coldly replied and turned his back to attend to the rapidly boiling water.

“I’m working, doing research.” he explained as he placed a hot steaming mug of tea on the kitchen counter.

“Oh, what are you researching? she innocently asked as she fiddled with the tea bag in her mug.

“Why do the people I love always leave me.” he said plainly sounding more pathetic then he realized.

She looked up at him with those Captivating blue eyes taken aback by his confession.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s not like that, I mean they didn’t die.their just gone.” he Hurriedly replied. 

“All that I have loved I lost, they all left and abandoned me even my own parents. and I just want to understand what is it about me that makes them..he shook his head unable to form the words. but once he began he couldn’t seem to stop himself. he’d opened the door to her and he felt he had to explain himself.

“I just need to understand what it is I did wrong.whats wrong in me.” he continued trying weakly to explain himself to her. 

He stared down into his mug of hot tea unwilling to see that look of pity in those blue eyes.

“I suppose it’s cheaper than therapy.” she said her tone soft and understanding. with not a trace of pity.

She took off her dampened white gloves and gently folded them on the countertop. “I lost someone too, I lost my mother when I was still a teenager.it kind of had an Effect on me.” 

“How so? He found himself asking. 

She shrugged her shoulder her usually sunny disposition down cast with such sadness.he suddenly had the urge to wrap his arms around her and just hold her.

“This is actually my mother’s dress, my mother’s gloves.Everything I own was my mother’s.” She confessed. Revealing a small piece of the complex Puzzle to him. 

“My friend’s think it’s kind of weird, the way I dress.And potential suitors find me a bit odd and too old Fashioned.they think that I should dress more my own age.But I..” she shook her head.

“What? He prodded.Coaxing her to continue.

“Sorry I didn’t mean too just,I don’t know.after my mother passed I guess I got like frozen you know.frozen in place.all my friends have moved on and are doing things and I’m just stuck.” She said and the sadness in those blue eyes broke his heart.

“I like the way you look.” He said and she looked up at him and smiled.

“I mean the way you dress, I like.” He nervously stumbled over his words.

She gave him a Beaming smile. “Thank you.” 

And this time he found himself smiling back at her. The beautiful lady from the library that somehow unexplainably wound up in his crapy apartment drinking tea out of a mug? How? 

“I suppose if not for the unusual circumstances we’d never have properly met.” He said voicing his thoughts out loud.

“Oh no we would have, I was determined to know you.it was only a matter of time before I asked you out for coffee.” She said with a giggle. 

He looked at her as if she had struck him, “Me, why? He asked. 

She shrugged “you were an Curiosity to me, a mystery to uncover. I don’t know maybe I just recognized another lonely soul.”

He nodded his head.

“Well I must warn you, i’am a difficult man to know.” he said looking at her with sad brown eyes.

“Well I’ve never been one to back away from a Challenge.” she said with a teasing smirk.

**Author's Note:**

> Posted at 2:00 am, unfortunately I couldn’t do all I wanted to do with this ‘Que Sera Sera what will be what will be’ xoxoxo


End file.
